Are my SATA III ports really running at SATA II speeds?

[EdwardERS]

My motherboard has 2x SATA III ports and 4x SATA II ports. I have a SSD connected to one of the III ports, a HD connected to another III port and another HD connected to a II port. Look at these texts from CrystalDiskMark. Do you see what I'm concerned about? (Yes, they're dated months ago, but anyway...)

 

 

 

CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 © 2007-2013 hiyohiyo

                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/

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* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [sATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]    <-------------------------------- That's plugged in a SATA III.

 

           Sequential Read :   390.968 MB/s

          Sequential Write :   196.583 MB/s

         Random Read 512KB :   297.851 MB/s

        Random Write 512KB :   190.871 MB/s

    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :    24.930 MB/s [  6086.4 IOPS]

   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :    57.858 MB/s [ 14125.5 IOPS]

   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :    26.910 MB/s [  6569.8 IOPS]

  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :    91.563 MB/s [ 22354.1 IOPS]

 

  Test : 1000 MB [C: 37.6% (44.8/119.1 GB)] (x5)

  Date : 2013/06/04 18:22:40

    OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 © 2007-2013 hiyohiyo

                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [sATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]  <-------------------------------- That's plugged in a SATA III.

 

           Sequential Read :   151.266 MB/s

          Sequential Write :   150.722 MB/s

         Random Read 512KB :    32.233 MB/s

        Random Write 512KB :    44.733 MB/s

    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     0.325 MB/s [    79.4 IOPS]

   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     0.776 MB/s [   189.5 IOPS]

   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     0.536 MB/s [   130.8 IOPS]

  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     0.743 MB/s [   181.3 IOPS]

 

  Test : 1000 MB [E: 42.5% (395.5/931.5 GB)] (x5)

  Date : 2013/06/04 18:59:59

    OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 © 2007-2013 hiyohiyo

                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [sATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s] <---------------------------- That's supposed to be SATA II, so I'm fine.

 

           Sequential Read :   125.009 MB/s

          Sequential Write :   122.712 MB/s

         Random Read 512KB :    39.190 MB/s

        Random Write 512KB :    67.418 MB/s

    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     0.428 MB/s [   104.6 IOPS]

   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     1.138 MB/s [   277.9 IOPS]

   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     0.501 MB/s [   122.3 IOPS]

  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     1.077 MB/s [   263.0 IOPS]

 

  Test : 1000 MB [F: 31.3% (873.6/2794.4 GB)] (x5)

  Date : 2013/06/04 19:08:01

    OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

 

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A few more things to consider. 

 

1. Are there any other ways to confirm or debunk that my SATA 6Gbps are really running at SATA 3Gbps?

2. I'm not actually that concerned about pure read/write speeds here, I'm more concerned about defective drivers, hardware or benchmarks. Gotta solve this first before possible improving read/write speeds.

3. It sounds like a driver issue with the SATA ports of the motherboard. I'm not too keen with updating BIOS or firmware, so details would be nice if that's what's up.

4. I have done a firmware update to my Crucial M4 120GB SSD last year to prevent a shut down bug that would've come by now. I have also flashed my BIOs around the same time.

5. This is a if it aint broke don't fix it kind of problem. A first world problem. Everything is working, but I feel hosed about this and want answers.

6. I've been assuming that all SATA data cables are the same in bandwidth.

 

Asrock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3

Intel Core i5 2500K @stock 3.3

Crucial M4 120GB SSD

 

What do you guys think? Thanks!

[UnknownEngineer]

don't worry, so far there isn't a single SSD or HDD that can surpass the Sata II speed. Not to mention the Sata III speed, It is probably because the devices you have only use Sata II, or then the ports are using that mode because they don't need the speed, or even the connectors could be blamed for it. In ANY case you should have no worries.  

 

EDIT: i was wrong disregard this.

[jscho]

don't worry, so far there isn't a single SSD or HDD that can surpass the Sata II speed. Not to mention the Sata III speed, It is probably because the devices you have only use Sata II, or then the ports are using that mode because they don't need the speed, or even the connectors could be blamed for it. In ANY case you should have no worries.  

Im pretty sure Linus has stated in many videos that the SATA III interface is being maxed out by current SSDs. Manufacturers are squeezing every little mb/s they can at this point. Mechanical hard drives do not exceed the SATA II interface though. SSDs do, very much so.

[EdwardERS]

don't worry, so far there isn't a single SSD or HDD that can surpass the Sata II speed. Not to mention the Sata III speed, It is probably because the devices you have only use Sata II, or then the ports are using that mode because they don't need the speed, or even the connectors could be blamed for it. In ANY case you should have no worries.  

Correct me if I'm wrong about SATA speeds.

 

SATA I = 1.5Gbps, SATA II = 3Gbps and SATA III = 6Gbps

More or less 1.5 Gbps equates to 188MBps, 3Gbps = 375MBps and 6Gbps = 750 MBps.

 

I've seen SSD benchmarks hit 500MBs on reads to say the least, that's well within the SATA III limit. The Crucial M4 120GB SSD is definitely listed as SATA III. I get that HDs don't max SATA 2 by themselves.  I ran HWInfo like Linus suggested in a video and found these lines. 

 

SATA Ports 2 and 3:                                                             Supported

SATA Port 1 6 Gb/s:                                                             Supported

SATA Port 0 6 Gb/s:                                                             Supported

 

That's definitely a positive, but now it leads me to wonder what's holding my SSD back or if it's worth changing anything? I saw a youtuber kill it when they benchmarked the same drive.

[UnknownEngineer]

Im pretty sure Linus has stated in many videos that the SATA III interface is being maxed out by current SSDs. Manufacturers are squeezing every little mb/s they can at this point. Mechanical hard drives do not exceed the SATA II interface though. SSDs do, very much so.

 

 

 

Correct me if I'm wrong about SATA speeds.

 

SATA I = 1.5Gbps, SATA II = 3Gbps and SATA III = 6Gbps

More or less 1.5 Gbps equates to 188MBps, 3Gbps = 375MBps and 6Gbps = 750 MBps.

 

I've seen SSD benchmarks hit 500MBs on reads to say the least, that's well within the SATA III limit. The Crucial M4 120GB SSD is definitely listed as SATA III. I get that HDs don't max SATA 2 by themselves.  I ran HWInfo like Linus suggested in a video and found these lines. 

 

SATA Ports 2 and 3:                                                             Supported

SATA Port 1 6 Gb/s:                                                             Supported

SATA Port 0 6 Gb/s:                                                             Supported

 

That's definitely a positive, but now it leads me to wonder what's holding my SSD back or if it's worth changing anything? I saw a youtuber kill it when they benchmarked the same drive.

 

Well....fuck i honestly thought that they weren't being maxed out. If so i am sorry for the false info, i guess i should just be quiet about this then. And i was so certain too...... :unsure:  Ill have to edit my post then.